Never Again
by Alaska
Summary: [one-shot] Everything seems perfect for Chihiro. Except one minor detail. 'He' has never returned for her. But one event causes her to gain hope in something that returns that night. [C/H:PG for a few words]


Alaska here! This is just a short one-shot unless my reviewers tell me otherwise.  
  
Note: Three years have passed and I am not sure how old she was when Chihiro went to the bathhouse but in this fic she is now thirteen..  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own "Spirited Away", all rights belong to Miyazaki!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~  
Three years had passed since she had arrived at her new home. The house turned out to be two-stories and a pretty blue color. A beautiful garden was constantly attended to by the thirteen-year-old's mother. In the backyard, a lone swing swang back and forth in a writhered oak in the afternoon sun. Grass grew neatly and evenly. Everything seemed perfect.  
Not for Chihiro.  
She hadn't changed much appearance wise. Still gangly and klumsy. Her brown hair was just as long, still tied back in the beautiful violet hairband. The girl was lucky if she had counted at least a few inches grown in height since "then." One would think she hadn't changed at all. But no, brown eyes were dull and barely held any happiness in them.  
"He" had never come back for her.  
Her pink shoes clapped down the school hallways. Though Chirhiro had her head down, she didn't bump into anyone, there wasn't anyone to bump into. The kids in the school would shuffle to get the farthest away from the short girl, never wanting to come near her.  
Chihiro's parents had saved her from going to an insane assylum but that didn't stop the rumours from spreading like wildfire around the middle school.  
~I knew I should have never said anything,~ she thought miserably, ~'Oh yes, my parents will understand' what a bunch of crap~  
A pink backpack bounced on one shoulder as she clambered down the school steps.  
Looking to the setting sun, her thoughts unconciously wondered to how much she missed the green haired river spirit that had never come back. Shaking her head furiously, she quickly erased thoughts of the dragon from her head, she didn't need him now. The irate girl stomped down the sidewalk angrily, the school was only a few minutes from her house so she need not take the bus home.  
Chihiro became upset once again as her uncooperating thoughts wondered to "him" once more. She looked again to the sky, having unconciously been counting the cracks on the sidewalk.  
Her heart leaped when she saw a light blue whipping figure in the sky and she ran after it, crying tears that were quickly left behind. The running figure tripped over a particurlay large crack in the sidewalk but that didn't halt her flight any for she was back up and running before her hair had stopped twisting. Chihiro began to scream "his" name. Trees whipped by her as the figure slowed down and landed.  
It wasn't "him."  
What was supposed to be the blue dragon was a light blue ribbon caught by the wind. The girl collapsed to her knees, her pink shorts dirtied by her fall and her white shirt with the sickly green stripe ruffled in the wind. Sobbing gently, she carefully snatched the ribbon from the ground and hugged it to her chest as she continued to cry.  
~ I miss him so much, I can't deny it! Why did he never come back for me?! I was right when I said I would never like my new home, everyone thinks I am crazy! And why do they think that? Because........I believe.......it wasn't................a.............a.............dream..........~she cried into the blue ribbon. Though she hated her new home, she would rather have the 'dream' to sink into than be here with friends without it.  
At least in the 'dreams' she had someone to love.  
And that love said he would return.  
With an all new hope, she picked herself up and walked the few paces home.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
A wonderful smell filtered through the house, dinner was ready. The man known as Chihiro's father plopped down at the head of the maple table as his wife placed three filled plates on the table.  
"Chihiro, dear! Hurry up before your food gets cold!" Chirhiro's mother yelled up the stairs.  
"I'm not hungry!" came the screechy yell from up the stairs.  
Her mother sighed as she scraped Chihiro's plate onto her father's, the girl didn't eat much anymore and it bothered her. Ever since they had moved here and her daughter began to believe she had been to a spirit bathhouse and meeting the best friend she had ever had. What had possesed the young girl was still beyond her. She sat down to eat without another thought about it.  
Upstairs Chihiro was getting ready for bed, running had made her tired and she had been emotionally tired from the torture she was put through at school. No friends, not even the teachers were polite enough to call on her for answers or questions. It was like she didn't exist to the world. Her parents were even a little distant. Nobody EVER believed her.  
~ and no one ever will~ she thought miserably, pulling a pajama top over her head that happened to be her favorite. It was a pale green with a river dragon knitted across the chest area. The pants had the exact same print and color on them only the dragons were dotted all over the pants. The resemblence of the dragon and 'him' was remarkably close. So much so that Chihiro had named them her favorite ones and had bought extras. Her parents had looked at her strangely but bought them anyway.  
Scanning the dragons, she sat down on the comforter of her queen-sized bed. The comforter happened to be a light blue in color, the undersheets being a mix of pale and dark greens. Pulling her legs to her chest she traced a dragon's head with a slender finger. She smiled for once in a long time.  
"Chihiro! Bed time!" her mother yelled from downstairs, oddly an hour had passed since dinner.  
The young girl frowned but climbed into her bed anyway, pulling the large comforter around her and turning off her lamp. Darkness bathed the room but she didn't mind, closing her eyes as she listened to her parents going to bed.  
She laid like that for a few hours before closing her exausted eyes and falling asleep.  
Maybe she would have dreams about Haku.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
A ribbon-like figure, green mane whipping in the wind, crossed over the full moon, scales flashing like firecrackers. Two flowing whiskers hung from its top jaw as its green eyes scaled the houses. Its pinkish nose twitched as it took a whiff of the air, slightly hissing in its movement.  
Flying at speeds that didn't look possible for a 'ribbon', it descended down towards a particular two-story light blue house, the top window open. The light blue figure slowed, twice the size of the car parked on the driveway in the front yard. Its two front legs, like an eagle's, grasped the ledge to the window silently, the owner sticking its head into the room.  
Much like water, it slipped effortlessley through the open window and into the giant room. The head frantically scanned the room before its jade eyes fell onto the deeply sleeping figure on the bed. Sighing in a dragon-like way, it slipped towards the bed in complete silence, smiling.  
The eyes flashed with complete happiness at having found the one he searched for, never again would he leave her, never again.  
The dragon slipped its head under the girl's pillow slowly, sliding and curling around the small form and onto the bed. Never waking the girl, it rested his head on the girl's stomach, being so light, he made no affect against her breathing.  
Letting out a sigh of complete content, the dragon closed its emeralds and fell into sleep curled up against the one he truly loved.  
Haku had returned.  
And never again would he leave.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
How was it? Was it good, bad, or ok? Please let me know! Let me know, infact I invite flames but *sigh* I would much prefer compliments. I absolutly love 'Spirited Away', but the ending sucked! They left meh hanging! That wasn't fair at all, they should have had an epilogue or something. Oh well, no one said life was fair.  
  
~Alaska 


End file.
